Blackjack Rules and How To Play
Blackjack is the most popular casino table game and its basic rules are easy enough to follow.
Firstly blackjack is just a player versus dealer game. More than 1 player can play against the dealer at a time, but players do not play against each other. The aim of the game being to get a hand closer to 21 than the dealer does, without going over the 21. If your cards total twenty one or lower but that total is higher than the dealers total, you win. If your hand total goes over 21, you bust and lose. If the dealer busts by going over 21, you win. The dealer plays to the set rules of the casino. These rules may vary slightly but are normally displayed clearly on the actual table. The most common rule is:
Dealer must draw to 16 and stands on all 17s. Therefore the dealer must keep hitting (take another card) until his hand total is at least 17. If his total is 16, he has to hit. If his hand includes an ace, which if counted as 11 gives him a total of 17 or over he sticks.
Cards values are 2 - 10 as indicated on the card, a Jack, Queen and King all count as 10. Aces are semi wild cards and count as either 11 or 1. The value of the ace is counted automatically to give you the highest value of the hand without you going over 21.
Any hand that contains an ace is known as "soft", because the hand can be counted as 1 or 11 and the total won't go over 21.
If a player holds an Ace and a 4 there total will be a soft 15 (11 + 4). The player could hit and if given a card value at 10, the ace can then be counted as a 1, so A, 4, Ten would give a total of hard 15, hard because the ace is already counted at its minimum value and if counted at 11 the player would have gone bust.
In actual play, the first action you take is to place your bet. On the blackjack table you will see a circle where you place you bet amount in chips. When playing online your bet value will be displayed on the screen.
When bets have been placed you then choose option "deal" and the dealer will deal you, himself and any other players 2 cards each. The dealer flips over one of his cards so you can see its value. You then have to decide how to play your hand.
When playing online the options you have will be displayed on the screen, lets go through the decisions one by one:
Blackjack: If your first 2 cards values total 21 then you have blackjack. Obviously this can only be an Ace and another card to the value of ten, e.g Ace King. The casino pays odds of 3 to 2 for a blackjack. So a $10 bet will result in the player winning $15. If the dealer also makes a blackjack the hand is a push. (A tie, neither wins).
Hit: To hit means to draw another card. You can keep hitting until you want to stand, or if you go over 21 you will have bust and the hand is over.
Hit: To stand means to stop and not take any more cards. You are happy with your hand value and want to take no further action.
Doubling Down: This option is only available when dealt the first 2 cards. To double down means you double your bet and get dealt only 1 more card. For example you should always double down if your 2 cards total a value of 11. You are in a strong position and have a good chance to win the hand with only 1 more card.
Splitting Pairs: When you get dealt any pair, e.g 6, 6, you get the option to "split" the hand into 2 separate hands and play them as new individual hands. You will have to double your bet to pay for the new hand. You then play out each hand 1 at a time.
Insurance: If the dealers upcard is an Ace you will be offered the option of "insurance". If you take the insurance, you bet half your original stake, so if you wagered $10, the insurance bet will be $5. If the dealer does have blackjack you will win your insurance bet at odds of 2:1, so your $5 will get you a total return of $15. However you will have lost your original $10 bet, so the end result is you break even. If the dealer doesn't have blackjack, you lose the insurance bet and continue your hand. Never take the insurance bet.
Surrender: Not offered by many online casinos. If it is offered it does give the player added advantage. If you do have the option, then you can use it if you don't like the first 2 cards you have been dealt, you can surrender them and only lose half your original bet.
All the decisions you make will be based on the 2 cards you have been dealt and the 1 up card you can see of the dealers.
When you have completed playing your hand, the dealer then plays his hand.
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Splitting Pairs
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